Though he's back at practice, Ray Lewis must spend a few more Sundays in street clothes. / Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

by Erik Brady, USA TODAY Sports

by Erik Brady, USA TODAY Sports

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh walked out into the chill December air Wednesday afternoon and shouted to no one in particular: "Where did 75 degrees go?"

Harbaugh had a bounce in his step on his way to practice, the first for Ray Lewis since the star linebacker tore his right triceps muscle in a win against the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 14.

Lewis won't play Sunday against the Washington Redskins. He isn't eligible to come off the injured reserve, designated to return list until Dec. 16 against the Denver Broncos. Even then, Harbaugh said, it is unclear whether Lewis will be ready to return.

That didn't seem to matter to Lewis' teammates, who appeared happy just to have their acknowledged heart and soul back in uniform.

"I feel good for him," quarterback Joe Flacco said. "I know that he is getting up there and he wants to play. ... There is not anybody out there who loves the game of football more than he does. So when he's not on the field with his guys, you know it hurts him."

Lewis, at 37, isn't the player he once was but leads through the force of his personality.

"Having him here, and his veteran leadership, means a lot to this organization," linebacker Jameel McClain said. "Ray is the ultimate competitor. He brings passion, energy, leadership. What he has is at another level than what a lot of people see. He brings it at his level."

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said it feels strange getting ready for the Ravens without Lewis. "Going against him all these years, you get used to seeing him," Shanahan said. "I'm sure his presence is still felt."

Lewis has chosen not to speak during his rehab and declined to talk once again on Wednesday, issuing a statement through the team instead.

"The story shouldn't be about me right now," Lewis said. "We're playing the Redskins Sunday, and I am not eligible to play. If I can help prepare my team in some way for that game, I will. When I know I will play in a game, or when I play in a game, I will say more then."

Running back Ray Rice, speaking before practice, said how good it would feel to have Lewis back. And he marveled at how his friend has come almost all the way back from what was at first feared to be a season-ending, if not career-ending, injury.

"I'm excited, because he's worked very hard," Rice said. "I tease him all the time about being a modern-day Superman, but there's only person who could have pulled off what he's doing. He's not doing it for his name to be in the paper about him coming back.

"He's doing it solely because he loves this organization, loves his guys and loves being at war with us. He's our general. As he goes, we go."

Most of his teammates were already on the field Wednesday before Lewis emerged through the locker room doors. A bank of TV cameras was there to document him jogging onto the field, as if he were about to walk the red carpet at an awards show.

Lewis came out in tandem with Rice, who mugged for the cameras. "That's a crazy boy right there," Lewis said, laughing.

He then loped over to a contraption that shoots out footballs and he caught a dozen or so, dropping only one, then jogged toward his teammates, who called out, beseeching his name.

The air at practice was cold, but there was no hazy shade of winter. The sun was shining and the sky blue. Who needs 75 degrees when you've got No. 52 back?